Noble Supply & Logistics

B-417269 Apr 30, 2019 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Noble Supply & Logistics, a small business, of Rockland, Massachusetts, protests the establishment of a sole-source blanket purchase agreement (BPA) with W.W. Grainger, Inc., of Lake Forest, Illinois, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. QSRA-RFQ-18005, which was issued by the General Services Administration (GSA), for industrial supplies and services at two locations in the Republic of Korea (hereinafter, South Korea). Noble challenges the agency's limited-source justification and establishment of the BPA made as a logical follow-on to a previously established BPA. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  Noble Supply & Logistics File:  B-417269 Date:  April 30, 2019 Gary J. Campbell, Esq., G. Matthew Koehl, Esq., and Nathaniel J. Greeson, Esq., Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP, for the protester. Jonathan S. Aronie, Esq., Anne B. Perry, Esq., Katie A. Calogero, Esq., and Eliazar M. Chacha, Esq., Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, for W.W. Grainger, Inc., the intervenor. Alissa J. K. Schrider, Esq., and Tyler J. Mullen, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agency. Evan D. Wesser, Esq., and Edward Goldstein, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Protest challenging the establishment of a noncompetitive logical follow-on blanket purchase agreement (BPA) is denied where the establishment of the BPA was reasonably in the interest of economy and efficiency pursuant to the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) § 8.405‑6(a)(1)(i)(C). 2.  Protest that the agency’s decision to award a noncompetitive logical follow-on BPA resulted from the agency’s failure to engage in adequate advance planning is denied where the agency’s decision was reasonable pursuant to the authority of FAR § 8.405‑6(a)(1)(i)(C). 3.  Supplemental protest allegations based on a materially different legal basis than the initially submitted protest allegations are dismissed as untimely where they were filed more than 10 days after the basis for the supplemental protest allegations was known or should have been known. DECISION Noble Supply & Logistics, a small business, of Rockland, Massachusetts, protests the establishment of a sole-source blanket purchase agreement (BPA) with W.W. Grainger, Inc., of Lake Forest, Illinois, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. QSRA-RFQ-18005, which was issued by the General Services Administration (GSA), for industrial supplies and services at two locations in the Republic of Korea (hereinafter, South Korea).  Noble challenges the agency’s limited-source justification and establishment of the BPA made as a logical follow-on to a previously established BPA. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND Under GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) No. 51V, Hardware Superstore, vendors offer a diverse line of products and related services that would normally be found in or offered by a hardware store, home improvement center, or maintenance, repair, or operations provider.  Relevant here, Grainger was awarded Schedule No. 51V contract No. GS-06F-0007J on February 3, 1999, and, following the exercise of all options, the contract was scheduled to expire on February 1, 2019.  Contracting Officer’s Statement of Fact (COSF) at 2.  Noble was awarded Schedule No. 51V contract No. GS-06F-0032K on July 1, 2000, and, following the exercise of all options, the contract is set to expire on June 30, 2020.  Id.; Agency Report (AR), Tab 12, GSA eLibrary Information for Contract No. GS-06F-0032K, at 1.[1] GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, Office of General Supplies and Services’ Office of Retail Operations (ORO) manages a 4th Party Logistics (4PL) supply chain program.  Under the 4PL program, GSA’s ORO serves as an integrator that assembles the resources, capabilities, and technology to design, build, and run a comprehensive supply chain solution, including both customer-facing and back-end processes which may include an online storefront, physical store locations, and/or direct delivery of products to a specific destination.  As the integrator, GSA’s ORO brings a commercial industrial product vendor to a customer installation in order to provide retail store services and industrial products for purchase by GSA’s customers.  COSF at 1. In 2015, GSA’s ORO competitively established BPAs under Schedule No. 51V to offer 4PL solutions to U.S. government customers at locations outside of the continental United States (OCONUS).  GSA ultimately awarded four BPAs, including to Grainger and Noble.  COSF at 2.  The 4PL BPAs anticipated a 5-year base period, and one, 5‑year option period.  AR, Tab 3, BPA No. GS-06F-0007J, mod. No. 2, at 22.  Grainger’s BPA, No.